Behavioural and EEG effects induced by an amphetamine like substance (cathinone) in rats

The effects of Cathinone, administered peritoneally, on the motor and electroencephalographic activity of the rat have been studied. This substance, recently isolated from the leaves of the Catha Edulis, presents chemical characteristics common to amphetamine. Cathinone has demonstrated a pharmacologic action somewhat less than that of amphetamine. It provokes the appearance of tremor and a stereotyped motor behaviour at low doses and seizures at high doses. The cerebral electrical activity is modified in the sense of activation patterns accompanied, at higher doses, by single pseudoperiodic sharp waves. © 1980 The Italian Pharmacological Society.